Do we sometimes focus too much on the cross? Should we not emphasize the resurrection of Christ? I remember a classmate ask something along those lines back in high school. Back then I hadn't really thought about it much. However, one thing I have come to appreciated is that both elements of Christ's work are essential and both have significance to the Christian life.

Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matt. 16:24 ESV)

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Rom. 6:1-4 ESV)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Gal. 5:16-17 ESV)

The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ are more than simply church dogma; those who believe that Jesus died for their sin and rose from the dead are "baptized into his death" and also "walk in newness of life." It is difficult to express in words-written or spoken-all that this means for the life of the Christian. The best terms in which I can think to express this thought are the spiritual discipline of self-denial and, in Paul's language, "walking by the Spirit."

Self-denial might also be considered "walking by the cross." That is, the cross compels us to deny ourselves, putting to death our former selves with our selfish desires or "works of the flesh," which are "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." (Gal. 5:19 ESV) These are things for which Christ died to free us. Walking in that freedom means denying ourselves and "taking up our cross" as we follow Christ.

As Christ said, if we deny or "lose" ourselves (in light of the cross), we will find ourselves (in light of the resurrection). In self denial we experience the cross and lose our former, sinful selves. The resurrection is experienced when we "walk by the Spirit." Even as we die to ourselves through Christ's cross, we come to "walk in newness of life" in walking "by the Spirit." Here we find ourselves as we ought to be-to be like Christ. Day by day, "from one degree of glory to another" the Holy Spirit transforms us on the inside, so "we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day." (2 Cor. 4:16 ESV) The fruit of this transformation is: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Gal. 5:22 ESV)

The cross and the resurrection are both at the very core of the Christian faith. If Christ did not die and rise from the dead then the Christian's faith is in vain and freedom is an illusion. Because he did, the cross and the resurrection must be at the very core of those who call Jesus Lord; they must be the heartbeat of the Christian through the discipline of self-denial and through walking by the Spirit.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal. 5:24-25 NIV)

It was by him and for him that
all things were created.
Everyone in his city he knew by
name, every hair on their heads he
counted.
There was no room at the Inn.
He is the Light, who gives
light to the New Jerusalem. His
light filled the temple in the
days of the forefathers. His is the
glory of God the Father.
There was no room at the inn.
He could have been born into
aristocracy, with a crib of pure
gold and wrapped in the finest
linen. For the earth is his
and everything in it.
There was no room at the inn.
He would grow up and set free the
captives, heal the afflicted,
and raise the dead; he himself
would die and be raised
to life again.
There was no room at the inn.
His death would pay the ransom
for all human transgressions.
His resurrection would
ensure that those who
believed in him would
not only share in his suffering, but
also in his rising.
There was no room at the inn.
There was no room at the inn,
but had the inn keeper known
the Child that Mary carried,
would he have made room
for the Holy One?
Our own hearts are full
of the worries of this life.
If there be no room in your
heart for Immanuel, evict every

Fear and rest in the work of

The Christ

If one word encapsulates the Advent of Jesus Christ, it is love.  If we spoke NT Greek, then the word would be agape.  The coming of the Christ to this lowly planet was nothing less than an act of agape.  We like to quote John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Of course, there is also Romans 5:8, "God demonstrated His own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  It was for this very purpose that the Son of God came into the world, to die as a Passover Lamb, and so taking "away the sin of the world."  How does such a gruesome act amount to love? 

Jesus answered this question when He taught that there is no greater act of love than for a friend to give his or her life so that another might live.  Jesus came to do just that, to lay down His own life in order to placate the wrath of God against our sin, and in so doing atoning for (covering, taking away) our sin and giving us "peace with God".  In sending Jesus to die on the cross, God showed just how much He values us.  Without Christ, we are still subject to His wrath, but God has opened the door to Himself in the sacrifice of His Son, so that through Him we can approach God.  Everyone who believes this message is a member of God's family. 

God loves you where ever you are, whoever you are, whatever you've done.  That is why He sent Christ to die in your place, so that through Him you can be rescued from God's wrath against sin, and made holy.  Do you have to make sacrifices?  Absolutely.  Will it be a quick cure for all your problems?  Absolutely not.  Yet, whatever you have to give up (habits, beliefs, etc.) is worth the glory that awaits the follower of Christ.  Likewise, the troubles of life are nothing in light of eternal life in God's kingdom.   

The Greek work for joy used in the New Testament is chara, and the Gospel of Luke uses this word more than any other book in the NT.  Of particular interest in this season is Luke 1:14 and Luke 2:10.  The first verse speaks about the birth of John the Baptist, that Zechariah would have “joy and gladness” and that the people would rejoice at his birth.  Why is this so?  Because John is the one who would precede the Lord in coming, and it was his purpose to “prepare the way of the Lord.”  In other words, after John was born, the Christ was soon to come.

His coming is announced in our second verse by angels to shepherds:  

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

His coming is “good news of great joy”, and the reason for this is in His name.  Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means, “Yahweh saves”.  And this is what was told Joseph in Matthew (1:21), saying that Mary would have a son, and that His name was to be Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.”  And likewise, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  This is the joy of the Advent: that Christ (Messiah) came.  Certainly, to the lowly shepherds the announcement that Messiah had come was an occasion for “great joy”.  After seeing the Child, they spread the word and glorified and praised God, “for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told” (Luke 2:19). 

With Christ as the focus of hope and peace, the Christian can be glad (chara) in any situation.  Many who do not know joy will say, “Where is my joy?”  If the coming of Christ brought joy, “Why am I unhappy?”  Indeed, many through history have not experienced this joy, but not because Christ has fail in keeping a promise, but because many have failed to believe the “good news of great joy” Christ came to bring.  Many have not received the gift of righteousness that is in Christ.  The many that have believed, and do believe today, have joy.   Not because things are going well for them; rather for the hope that they know in Christ, because their sins are forgiven and they have the promise of eternal life. Paul’s epistles, 2 Corinthians and Philippians, tie in second for the most use of the word chara (5 times, Luke 8 times).  In 2 Cor., Paul talks about suffering, and Philippians was written while Paul was in prison!  Paul suffered much, but he had joy in the midst of it.  He had joy because he trusted in what God did on his behalf through Jesus Christ.   

Current affairs naturally have many of us longing for peace.  Indeed, in the pronouncement of war against Saddam Hussein and Iraq there was a protest against such action in favor of "peaceful" resolution.  As the conflict in that region continues, there is still a crying out for peace.  Let us be aware, however, that this is nothing new.  Throughout the history of man from his fall in Adam, there has been conflict that arises out of the sinful nature inherited from our oldest common ancestor.  In result of Adam's transgression, we all are in conflict with God our Creator and with our fellow man.  The self-centered drive of the sinful nature causes disharmony between kin and stranger alike.  The sinful nature causes disharmony between everyone as everyone seeks his own good and goes his own way. 

The coming (Advent) of the Lord Jesus Christ and His work of righteousness (His obedience to the Father in going to the cross as a sacrifice for our sin) is the antithesis of Adam's work of unrighteousness (his disobedience to the Father in breaking the one commandment given) that has made all of us sinners and therefore at conflict (war, if you like) with God.  Because of the Lord's obedience and the death He died in obedience, we can now be at peace (or harmony) with God.  If we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, then we have a "peace the surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:6-7).  That is, we have a peace in spite of the conflicts around us because of what we know.  What we come to know is the "all things work together for the good of those that love God and are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28).  The truth is that Christian peace is not merely the absence of war or conflict, but it is for the time being in spite of the presence of war or conflict.  And as followers of Jesus, Christians are to live in peace with others and in submission to "governing authorities" (cf. Romans 12-14).

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us

Romans 5:1-5